Blackville or Bust, tomorrow AM!! Spring fishing, here we come!

Just packing, and packing and packing and packing... lugging gear sucks! It'll all be worth it on Monday AM when we're swinging flies in the Miramichi river!

The water is on the rise and it'll likely be dirty and full of grass and debris... lots of taking stuff off your hook between swings but at least we'll be fishing =)

This is one pile of gear of at least six.....but this is the most important one!

A few last minute flies, I'm even going to try a simple tube smelt this time around. If I can have some success on this type of fly I plan to tie more for our next trip ... the hook on a tube fly is much smaller than the traditional spring streamer so it will be a lot more fish friendly. I'll be sure to report how it works out.

A marabou and a bunny strip... these are big flies, meant for trolling:

Just a quick post for now, stay tuned over the next few days as I'll be posting updates of our luck, good bad or otherwise =)

Tight lines and be safe!

The 'Bogmonster' Step by Step in pictures...

Here's a quick little step by step of one method to tie a bunny strip winged fly ... unlike the usual strip wing, this one is only tied down at the head which makes for an extra animated presentation -- and it's deadly!

It's important to note that I apply small amounts of head cement after adding each ingredient which makes for a durable fly...

A good bulky underwing helps support the bunny strip and lessen the number of times the strip wraps around your hook -- there's no way to completely avoid it though.

Flashabou!



Bunny Strip!

Peacock Herl!

Cheeks (I used ringneck pheasant as I don't have any suitably sized JC)

Artsy! (tangledfx for iphone)

A few coats of head cement:

It's also important to note that it's extremely easy to end up with a head that's way too large due to the number of ingredients .. this is where 8/0 thread and head cement come into play... a small drop in between ingredients can help keep your required number of wraps to a minimum while still making a durable fly. Another trick is to trim the tip of your bunny strip to a triangle shape where you tie it in .. this lessens bulk a lot!

The Golden Eagle 'Bogmonster' variation...

Here's the recipe for the Golden Eagle bunny strip winged fly - a.k.a. bogmonster style:

This style of fly worked very well last season plus it was nice to swing something other than typical Miramichi bucktail streamers. If we have enough water i'll be casting a 510 grain skagit head, tipped with a fast sink tip with one of these babies on the end. Throw in a nice upstream mend and this won't even make a full swing before a big pull... come on April 15th!

Peeps, anyone?

Things are gearing up! Our pals in Nova Scotia are going to be fishing on Monday (lucky buggers) but we have 2 more weeks to go here in NB. (April 15th is the opener) I've been tying a few flies in the 'bunny strip wing' style the last few day and decided to adapt one of my favorite marabou patterns which should be deadly on black salmon!

The only problem  --- I now feel like eating little pink and yellow marshmallows .... Come on April 15th!!

It's almost time to start building....

Been a pretty slack blog entry season this old winter has... it's not for a lack of things going on, trust me there's been plenty.. I'll have to be honest and chock it up to sheer laziness! UGH! Oh well, in about a month or less we'll be balls to the wall given 'er up at the Den pounding nails and such =) I can't wait for that! In fact, as crazy as this'll sound, i'm looking more forward to building than fishing... crazy, huh?

This past weekend was the Dieppe fly tying forum and ASF dinner. We went up to both and had a blast! Seeing old pals, shopping for COOL stuff at the show and raising a few bucks for SALAR! What more could a fella want in a weekend?

LAND BASED SALMON!!!!

Good times!

Some gear from Riptide:

That's it for now!

"Tangled FX"

I found this iPhone app recently while using Instagram -- it has a number of very cool filters and puts a neat spin on old & new pics on your iPhone. Here's a few pics I ran through the cartoon filter: